N.W. Missouri State’s Ben McCollum Named NABC Division II Coach of the Year

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) announced today that Ben McCollum of Northwest Missouri State University has been selected as the 2021 NABC Division II Coach of the Year presented by Wilson.
 
This is the fourth time in the last five years that McCollum has earned the award with three NCAA Division II championships during that period. The Bearcats topped West Texas A&M 80-54 in the NCAA Division II national championship game on Saturday in Evansville, Ind., finishing the season with a 28-2 won-lost record.
 
Northwest Missouri also won NCAA titles in 2016-17 and 2018-19 and may have garnered another last season with a 31-1 record before the abrupt end of play due to the pandemic.  Over the last three seasons, McCollum’s teams have a 97-3 won-lost record and a 159-8 mark over the last five seasons.
 
A seven-time MIAA coach of the year, McCollum earned the 2019 John McLendon National Coach of the Year award for all divisions. He will receive his award on Friday, April 2, during the virtual AT&T NABC Guardians of the Game Awards Show, which begins at 6:30 pm (EDT).
 
The show will be streamed at https://watchstadium.com/.